With illegal immigration and asylum seekers, remedies short of wrenching a child from a parent are readily available: Our view

A Congolese woman lawfully seeking asylum in San Diego in November hears her 7-year-old screaming in the next room as mom is sent to detention and the daughter goes to a Chicago facility.

An El Salvadoran mother, fleeing gangs threatening her 16-year-old son, is forced apart from her three children after illegally crossing the border and as her 11-year-old daughter sobs, "Bye, Mommy."

Most Americans, whatever their feelings about border walls or immigration, would find the emotionally damaging practice of separating young children from parents abhorrent. And though the Trump administration didn't invent this, it has vastly exploited it.

The number of immigrant children held by the government jumped more than 20% in May to 10,773 — so many that the government is running out of shelter space. And time in custody has grown to two months on average. It's unclear how many of those are older children who crossed the border on their own and how many are youngsters taken from parents. But in a 13-day period this month, 658 were among the latter.

The ACLU has even uncovered cases where immigrant families lawfully presenting themselves at ports of entry seeking asylum were separated. "Forcibly separating a child from their parent is nothing short of overwhelming and deleterious to their well-being — emotionally, physically and spiritually," child psychologist Lee Carter wrote in an ACLU affidavit challenging the practice.

Homeland security officials deny employing this cruelty as a means of deterrence for illegal immigration; they say it's just an unfortunate byproduct of following the law. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions explicitly warned this month, in announcing a 100% prosecution policy for illegal immigration, that "if you don't want your child separated, then don't bring them across the border illegally."

It's yet another example of a "zero tolerance" policy translating into zero common sense.

To be sure, the government faces challenges when adults with children illegally cross the border. Are the children truly theirs? What's to be done with a child while the adult is prosecuted?

But remedies short of wrenching a child from a parent are readily available. DNA testing done in a matter of hours can establish parenthood. Processing asylum requests ahead of criminal prosecutions, as previous administrations have done, avoids the need for separation.

Once a criminal prosecution for the misdemeanor of illegal border crossing is completed and a days-long sentence served, parents and children should be quickly reunited. If a plea for asylum follows — as often happens — the families can be released with the adults wearing ankle bracelets to ensure appearance in court.

If the government insists on confinement pending asylum hearings, families can be kept together in detention centers. It's unclear whether such family centers are even being used to capacity by government officials.

A federal judge is reviewing whether these separations violate federal best-interest-of-the-child safeguards. Meanwhile, the practice smells a lot like Trump's decision last year to end popular protections for "DREAMers," children brought to the USA illegally before 2012 who grew up knowing only this country.

The Trump administration has signaled that measures to protect DREAMers, as well as steps to end family separations, are possible if only Congress would fund Trump's border wall and restrict legal immigration. Apparently, the president is comfortable using children as pawns to get his way.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.